Eley v. Bagley
Decision Date | 14 May 2010 |
Docket Number | No. 06-4503.,06-4503. |
Citation | 604 F.3d 958 |
Parties | John J. ELEY, Petitioner-Appellant,v.Margaret BAGLEY, Warden, Respondent-Appellee. |
Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
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ARGUED: David Lawrence Doughten, Law Offices, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellant. Sarah A. Hadacek, Office of the ohio Attorney General, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: David Lawrence Doughten, Law Offices, Cleveland, Ohio, Jeffrey James Helmick, Helmick & Hoolahan, Toledo, Ohio, for Appellant. Sarah A. Hadacek, Office of the Ohio Attorney General, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellee.
Before: SILER, CLAY, and GIBBONS, Circuit Judges.
GIBBONS, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which SILER, J., joined. CLAY, J. (pp. 971-77), delivered a separate dissenting opinion.
Petitioner-appellant John J. Eley was convicted in Ohio of aggravated murder and aggravated robbery and sentenced to death. He now appeals the district court's denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, challenging the state trial court's failure to conduct a competency hearing, his trial counsel's effectiveness in developing mitigation evidence, and the trial panel's consideration of mitigation proof. For the reasons set forth below, we now affirm the district court's decision and dismiss Eley's habeas petition.
The Ohio Supreme Court summarized the facts of the case as follows:
State v. Eley, 77 Ohio St.3d 174, 672 N.E.2d 640, 644-46 (1996). After considering the eighteen issues Eley raised on appeal, the Ohio Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals. Id. at 654. Eley's petition for a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court was denied. Eley v. Ohio, 521 U.S. 1124, 117 S.Ct. 2522, 138 L.Ed.2d 1023 (1997).
Eley filed a petition for post-conviction relief under Ohio Revised Code § 2953.21 on September 20, 1996. The state court conducted an evidentiary hearing on Eley's competency but denied Eley's motion for a competency determination on the ground that he had no right to be competent in a post-conviction proceeding. The court then denied post-conviction relief on April 1, 1999. State v. Eley, No. 86-CR-484 (Ohio Ct.Com.Pl. Apr. 1, 1999). Eley timely appealed, but the Seventh District Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's dismissal of the post-conviction petition on November 6, 2001. State v. Eley, No. 99-CA-109, 2001 WL 1497095 (Ohio Ct.App. Nov. 6, 2001). The Ohio Supreme Court declined to exercise jurisdiction over Eley's post-conviction petition. State v. Eley, 94 Ohio St.3d 1506, 764 N.E.2d 1036 (Table) (Ohio 2002).
On July 12, 2002, Eley's sister, Susan Laury, filed a notice of intent to file the present petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, along with motions to stay Eley's execution, to appoint counsel, and for a competency evaluation to determine if Eley was competent to waive any further appeals. The district court entered a stay, but while the parties were briefing the last two motions, Eley filed a notice of intent to file a habeas petition himself. Eley filed the petition on March 19, 2003, raising fourteen grounds for relief. See Eley v. Bagley, No. 4:02CV1994, 2006 WL 2990520, at *4 (N.D.Ohio Oct.18, 2006). In November 2003, Eley filed a motion to stay the habeas proceeding so that he could file a mental retardation claim in state court pursuant to Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304, 122 S.Ct. 2242, 153 L.Ed.2d 335 (2002). This claim was later denied. On October 16, 2006, the district court denied his habeas petition on all fourteen grounds. Eley, 2006 WL 2990520.
Eley timely appealed and now raises three issues. The district court granted a Certificate of Appealability (“COA”) as to the first two: (1) whether the trial court violated Eley's due process rights by failing to hold a competency hearing; and (2) whether Eley's trial counsel was constitutionally ineffective by failing to investigate or prepare mitigating evidence for the penalty phase. We expanded the COA to include: (3) whether the three-judge trial panel failed to consider and give effect to valid mitigation evidence at sentencing.
The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (“AEDPA”), Pub.L. No. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214 (1996), governs all habeas petitions filed after April 24, 1996. See Lindh v. Murphy, 521 U.S. 320, 326-27, 117 S.Ct. 2059, 138 L.Ed.2d 481 (1997). AEDPA provides:
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